Undead
Undead are not a race in the strict sense: they are constructs made from negative energy and are found all across Materia, Etheria, and Hell. Created from magic that binds a soul into a shell, usually a corpse or pieces of preserved flesh or bone, undead are in most cases mindless, resilient shock troops exploited by mages, or naturally-occurring arcane phenomenon that invariably cause pain and suffering to those who cross their paths. Undead are almost universally feared across the Inner Planes for their horrifying appearances, violent, cannibalistic natures and for their unrelenting, often-unstoppable brute strength and resilience; most religions and governments have strict stances opposing the intentional creation of undead, and aggressive policies regarding their eradication once discovered. Despite the majority being little more than horrific puppets, there are numerous varieties of intelligent undead: beings that demonstrate the reasoning and will that many living species show, despite being constructs in nature. These individuals are invariably made from powerful magics and so are each as unique as the spells that birthed them; however, they tend to share some characteristics, allowing for rudimentary sorting into four basic groups. Being constructs of magic, though, there are always examples that defy categorization. The four basic groups are the lich: a mage who bound their soul to a phylactery in order to cheat death; the wight: a brutal creature that requires live flesh to sustain itself; the vampire: a being that feeds on blood and often appears as it did in life, and; the mummy: a lich-like creature whose soul was ritualistically tethered to its own decaying corpse. Most undead have a defined 'life-span', despite being constructs; the length of time they can function is always proportional to the strength of the magic that created them. Most mindless, 'disposable' undead made by mages for basic tasks decay and crumble within months, weeks or even days. Wights tend to only last for decades at best, while mummies and vampires routinely survive centuries. Some undead, particularly liches, seem to have no defined life span and might be truly immortal. Appearance Intelligent undead, save vampires, generally have similar superficial appearances. Many suffer from a slow, drying decay after creation, as most were made with the intent of longevity, though some rot in alternate fashions. From their conception onwards, undead will no longer produce bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, bile or tears, though a certain amount of blood will often remain congealed inside their veins, until those too inevitably decompose; again, vampires have been known to refute this rule. After a period of time ranging from weeks to centuries, the undead will inevitably appear as a gaunt creature with taut, thin flesh, showing little to nothing in the way of muscle, fat or fleshy appendages, such as noses or ears. Depending on their personal maintenance of their bodies, they may or may not have hair, fingernails, eyeballs, or other organs, or they might be nothing more than a skeleton. Individuals with more unique magics animating them may have distinct traits that impact their appearance as well. One of the burdens suffered by civilized undead is the complete lack of visual distinction between an intelligent individual and a mindless thrall. Only through involved communication can a distinction be drawn, and many living presented with an undead would rather retaliate with preemptive violence than risk the wrong conclusion. Culture Even discounting undead that lack the capacity for reason and free will, the undead have little in the way of unified culture or society. Many are extremely violent, driven by cannibalistic hunger, or malevolent, as those who become undead often possessed little in the way of morality or decency in life; this necessitates their destruction at the hands of civilization, as monsters and criminals often do. Those that are neither mindless nor destructive are rare creatures and many live solitary existences, preying carefully and sustainably on the living or hiding in their remote domains, interacting only with the few who cross purposes with them. Many of these civil undead have vast domains in the Underdark, away from the ever-shifting tides of humanity. Even those who live on the surface generally retreat from the mistrustful, judgmental and often violent societies of the living who fear them. Though there is no undead culture or land that unites these rare civil few, there remains a common courtesy shared among those who live long enough to learn of it. The undying are more likely to display trust and congeniality to their own, and often hold themselves above the cares and concerns of politics and current affairs. They generally scorn the short-lived, short-sighted, immature creatures of the world, whom they dub 'vivans', and even a fellow undead might be considered vivan should they demonstrate an uncharacteristic interest in the lives, cultures or trappings of current civilization, garnering ridicule, condescension or reprimand. "Young" undead who still identify with the peoples and cultures they were part of while living are often seen as children and treated as such by elder undead, though still deserving of more respect than true vivans. Certain vivan cultures have proven much more accepting of intelligent undead than most. A particular example is the ancient empire of Valparaiso: due to the societal exaltation of arcana over all other institutions, those wizards who transformed themselves into undead were still viewed favourably and there was little to no stigma attached to a mage who chose to extend their life through lichdom or vampirism. Undead were referred to as 'ossians', and lost none of the civil standing that they possessed when alive. During a time of surface upheaval, an undead necromancer named Xander claimed a swath of territory in the name of the civilized undead. This became known as the Undead Nation: a city-state where roughly 50 extremely powerful undead individuals, most originating from the Underdark, cohabited. Though they lived in close proximity for protection from the aggravated and fearful surrounding vivan populations, the Nationalists kept strict dominion over their own respective property and had next to nothing in the way of community. Specific Varieties Liches Considered the most powerful form of undead, liches are made through extremely complicated, expensive and time-consuming arcane rituals that must be tailor-made for the individual. As such, liches are almost always incredibly powerful spellcasters who have decided to forgo their natural deaths. By tearing out their own souls and tethering them to inanimate objects called phylacteries, the spellcaster achieves the functional immortality of unlife. While a phylactery can be any object, they are most often small items that are simple for the lich to carry around and protect; gemstones, due to their easily-enchanted nature, are usually used. Though magic allows the body of the lich to continue to function, it is well and truly dead: lich bodies suffer from a slow, drying decay. However, unlike other undead, liches possess an incredible defense: should their bodies ever be destroyed, their soul will retreat to their phylactery rather than move on. It will rest there as the magic of the phylactery builds them a new body, identical to the one they lost. When it is 'grown', the soul will once more move back to the body, and the lich will be free to carry about its business once more. A lich's body and phylactery must be destroyed simultaneously in order to permanently end a lich, lest one be allowed to remake the other. The most notable identifier of a lich is their phylactery, but they also distinguish themselves by their lack of compulsion to consume life. As such, they cannot digest food or drink; anything that is not magical in nature, such as potions, sits undisturbed in whatever passes for their gut until manually removed. The negative magics that create liches are so powerful that nearly any living creature can sense them, instilling fear in the hearts of man and beast alike. Vampires Vampires are perhaps considered the most beautiful of undead, not that there is generally much competition. Unlike other forms of undead, vampires do not rot and superficially keep the appearance of life, though they may become visibly pale, drawn or worse if they sustain significant damage or are prevented from feeding regularly. Further, they tend to show the most variability in appearance and abilities, often having particular elemental, environmental or other adaptations that suit them to a location or role. This is a function of vampires being overwhelmingly the product of wild-borne curses, rather than formulated rituals. Vampires usually sustain themselves on blood, and as such will have fangs suited for puncturing the skin of prey. They are unique among undead in that they are actually incapable of consuming foods other than blood; solids make them violently ill, and most are incapable of forcing themselves to consume anything other than blood or magical substances such as potions. As most vampires are the product of curses, some possess the means to 'reproduce', or spread their curse to beings similar to what they were in life. The vast majority can only make mindless thralls, but a rare few can make full-fledged vampires. Individuals also tend to possess unique inherent magical abilities, such as shapeshifting and hypnotic effects. Wights Wights are the most common of intelligent undead, as the magics that make them are comparatively simple. They are often also considered the weakest: they very rarely possess unique powers, and they invariably suffer from decay and the compulsion to consume live flesh. This, combined with the fact that all of their teeth are replaced by carnivorous fangs upon undeath and many grow deadly claws, gives the wight the potential to be the most visually frightening of intelligent undead. Wights can be made ritualistically, through spells believed to be modified from the weaker Animate Dead, and from inheritable curses. Cursed wights are more likely to possess magical abilities, and are usually called ghouls or ghasts. Wights display a significant amount of variation in power and natural ability, and range from extremely powerful to beings barely any different from their living counterparts. The wight's voracious need for live flesh is coupled with a rather astonishing digestive-like system, similar to lesser zombies. In their fury to eat, wights will often consume copious collateral materials, such as fur, feathers, bones, clothes and other substances. Interestingly, they appear to have the ability to digest these things, leaving them unhampered by concern with what might otherwise stand between them and a meal. Wights can thereby consume nearly anything, other than that which might physically destroy their bodies, though only live flesh is satisfying and sought out. It is uncommon for a living individual choose to become a wight, as there are frankly better alternatives to those who possess the means. Those that do opt for this form are usually lured by the potential for savagery: the appeal of the brute strength and terrifying appearance of a wight has lured many a murderer and assassin to seek out this comparatively easy path to undeath. Mummies Like a lich, an intelligent mummy is created through a complicated ritual process that leaves the caster in an undying shell. Mummies are easier to make than liches, academically speaking, though much more difficult than wights: they require very precise conditions to maintain their intelligence. Unintelligent mummies, crypt guardians and other shambling bandaged zombies are far more common. Mummies are generally known for their particular appearance and habitats; though the term mummy will invoke an image of a humanoid wrapped in bandages and buried in a desert, there are many creatures that technically classify as such that require neither wrappings nor sand. There is some contention regarding whether there is any true distinction between a mummy and a wight, as both can present as desiccated, unremarkable individuals. The difference is that a mummy does not require the sustenance of living tissue, whereas a wight needs to feed lest it go insane. Mummies will also more often than not possess a range of unique supernatural abilities and, like the lich who does not require food, the mummy is incapable of digestion. Category:Race